KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia ended higher for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, in line with regional peers amid improving sentiment after a rally on Wall Street overnight, an analyst said.
At 5 pm, the benchmark index advanced 11.19 points, or 0.70 per cent, to end at 1,420.55 from Tuesday's close of 1,409.36.
It opened 4.31 points better at 1,413.67 and moved up to a high of 1,424.65.
Market breadth was positive with gainers outpacing decliners 518 to 349, while 397 counters were unchanged, 1,066 untraded, and six others suspended.
Turnover stood at 3.23 billion units worth RM1.72 billion.
Mohd Sedek Jantan, UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd head of wealth research and advisor, said the Wall Street rally overnight bolstered trading in the FBM KLCI and Asian markets.
"In the short term, the market will remain highly vulnerable to external headwinds and the performance of US markets.
"Locally, all eyes will be on the Budget 2023, which will be unveiled this Friday.
"Although there are pockets of trading opportunities, we maintain that Budget 2023 and the 15th general election (GE15) would generally be market-neutral," he told Bernama.
Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng expects the overall market sentiment to further improve as falling commodity prices, especially crude oil, might ease inflationary risks in the global economy.
Nonetheless, investors will remain cautious about the heightened market volatility although the local market remained in an oversold position, he said.
Thong expects the FBM KLCI to trend slightly higher between 1,410 and 1,430 for the remainder of the week, with immediate resistance at 1,450 and support at 1,400, followed by 1,380.
Among Bursa heavyweight counters, Maybank added two sen to RM8.70, Petronas Chemicals widened by 26 sen to RM8.65, and CIMB grew by three sen to RM5.26. Public Bank fell two sen to RM4.25 and IHH Healthcare was flat at RM5.85.
Of the actives, MMAG Holdings reduced one sen to 2.5 sen, Cypark Resources gave up 2.5 sen to 43.5 sen and Hiap Huat Holdings eased half-a-sen to 15.5 sen.
Hibiscus Petroleum pushed up 7.5 sen to 94.5 sen and Top Glove bagged two sen to 64 sen. - Bernama
